Assemblyman Wright being sworn in by his father Supreme Court Justice Bruce Wright in 1992.

Last month my family held a celebration for the life of my father, the Supreme Court Justice Bruce McM. Wright. The event, held at Aaron Davis Hall, was a resounding success, as friends and family packed the hall to remember our father.

My father died in his sleep at age 86 on March 24th at his home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He is best remembered as a civil rights activist, judicial activist, intellectual and humanitarian, famous for his writings on injustice and his refusal to imprison those whom he believed to have been discriminated against in the justice system. Working with civil rights leaders such as Percy Sutton, Herb Daughtry and Charles Rangel, he made a definitive change in the lives of many New Yorkers. He authored the highly acclaimed book, "Black Robes, White Justice" as well as some poetry that showcased his more sensitive side.

We invited legendary TV host Gil Noble to emcee. Among those eulogizing my father were: Congressman Charles B. Rangel, New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Chairman Emeritus Percy E. Sutton, former Secretary of State and New York City Deputy Mayor Basil Paterson, former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, Attorneys Jeff L. Greenup and John Edmonds.

My father’s longtime law clerk and friend, Deborah Woll, remembered the business side of my father, "when someone rang up from downstairs asking to see the Judge, Bruce would ask ’Who is he?’ and upon my answer, would reply ’never heard of ’em, send him right up.’" I tried to relate to the audience the family side of my father, who always took time out for his six children, even though he worked from 5:00 a.m to late in the evening. My dad’s reasoning for those hours? "The white man was already there 30 minutes earlier."

Saying "the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) has perpetrated a 21st century Tuskegee Experiment on nearly 500 New York City children over the course of 15 years," New York State Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright (D-Central Harlem/West Harlem) today demanded that the Vera Institute of Justice in conjunction with the NYS Office of Children and Family Services conduct a thorough investigation of ACS policy in light of its enrollment of HIV-positive children who were in foster care in clinical drug trials during the late 1980s to 2001. Assemblyman Wright also announced that he has introduced legislation (A. 6217) that would require the commissioner of the Administration of Children’s Services to obtain an order of consent from the court before allowing experimental drug testing on children under the care and/or control of the ACS.

"I suppose I should feel some encouragement from the fact that an independent review of Administration policy will be conducted. Any encouragement is immediately dashed, however, when we realize the gravity of the questions that must be answered," Wright said, adding that the questions include:

• Who made the decision to administer the drugs?

• How old were the children, and where were they from?

• Given that this program began in an era when people had yet to fully comprehend how and why people contracted HIV, were the children made aware of what medications they were taking, and for what they were taking them?

• Given that medical science was far less informed at the time this program began, was sound medical science utilized in administration of these drugs?

• Were the foster or birth parents made aware, and was permission given?

Wright added that the use of the foster children is particularly galling when one considers that in the late 1980s, the nation was still dealing with significant fear and hysteria when it came to AIDS. "There is no question that drug trials have helped to increase the life expectancy of those living with HIV. The question is whether children in foster care settings, children who obviously have already suffered greatly in their young lives, should be given experimental treatments. I have no problem with consenting adults undergoing these programs, but doing this to children who may not know better, and whose parents might not have been informed, is akin to treating them like animals you’d find in a lab - rats or guinea pigs," Wright concluded.